Illegal Trading In Natural-Gas Markets

Daily Market Commentary for April 8, 2008 from Millennium-Traders.Com

A former director of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NMX), Steven Karvellas 49, of Allendale, N.J., pled guilty Tuesday to two felony counts related to illegal trading in natural-gas markets: Three other traders also pled guilty, (read more)

At the closing bell on the Stock Exchange, here is how the major world indices and major U.S. indices ended the session on the U.S. Markets:

DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) loss of 35.34 points on the day to end the session at 12,577.09

NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) loss of 34.09 points to end the session at 9,150.63

NASDAQ loss of 16.07 points for a close at 2,348.76

S&P 500 loss of 7.00 points for a close at 1,365.54

FTSE All-World ex-U.S. loss of 1.80 points to close at 246.41

FTSE RAFI 1000 loss of 40.87 points to close at 5,533.54

BEL 20 loss of 9.01 points on the day to end the session at 3,857.40

CAC 40 loss of 31.91 points on the day to end the session at 4,912.69

FTSE100 loss of 24.6 points on the day to end the session at 5,990.20

NIKKEI 225 loss of 199.8 points on the day to end the session at 13,250.40

News on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today: advanced stocks 1,332; declined stocks 1,826; unchanged stocks 94; stocks hitting new highs 39; stocks hitting new lows 19. Daily Trading Range and end of day trading results for volatile NYSE stocks traded by active Day Traders today: Washington Mutual Inc (NYSE: WM) shed 1.34 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $12.90, low on the trading day $11.41, for a closing price at $11.81; Mosaic Corporation (NYSE: MOS) gained 2.09 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $120.80, low on the trading day $116.51, for a closing price at $119.92; UltraShort Financials ProShares (NYSE: SKF) gained 2.50 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $106.40, low on the trading day $102.68, for a closing price at $105.00; Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR) gained 2.80 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $114.35, low on the trading day $109.33, for a closing price at $113.90; Kirby Corporation (NYSE: KEX) shed 1.05 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $55.45, low on the trading day $53.19, for a closing price at $54.73; Flowserve Corporation (NYSE: FLS) shed 5.68 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $110.00, low on the trading day $105.63, for a closing price at $109.81; CF Industries Holdings, Incorporated (NYSE: CF) gained 4.05 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $132.97, low on the trading day $125.00, closing price $131.02; CME Group, Incorporated (NYSE: CME) gained 1.70 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $518.88, low on the trading day $506.00, closing price $510.70; Monsanto Corporation (NYSE: MON) gained 1.19 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $120.90, low on the trading day $117.08, closing price $120.78; Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) gained 5.22 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $232.80, low on the trading day $225.28, closing price $231.47; Broadridge Financial Solutions Incorporated (NYSE: BR) shed 1.42 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $18.42, low on the trading day $15.25, closing price $16.90; POSCO (NYSE: PKX) shed 2.62 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $128.96, low on the trading day $125.41, closing price $127.73.

News on the NASDAQ today: advanced stocks 1,226; declined stocks 1,678; unchanged stocks 159; stocks hitting new highs 15; stocks hitting new lows 64. Trading range and end of day trading results for volatile NASDAQ stocks traded by active Day Traders today: NutriSystem Incorporated (NasdaqGS: NTRI) gained 3.65 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $19.90, low on the trading day $18.00, closing price $18.59; Garmin Limited (NasdaqGS: GRMN) shed 4.23 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $49.91, low on the trading day $48.02, closing price $48.47; Repligen Corporation (NasdaqGS: RGEN) gained 0.77 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $6.75, low on the trading day $5.92, closing price $6.23; DryShips Incorporated (NasdaqGS: DRYS) gained 1.84 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $70.97, low on the trading day $67.05, closing price $70.01; ***** Incorporated (NasdaqGS: AAPL) shed 3.05 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $156.45, low on the trading day $152.32, closing price $152.84; First Solar, Incorporated (NasdaqGS: FSLR) shed 0.26 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $277.63, low on the trading day $263.00, closing price $271.99; Baidu.com, Incorporated (NasdaqGS: BIDU) shed 4.05 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $304.38, low on the trading day $291.92, closing price $295.95; Research In Motion Limited (NasdaqGS: RIMM) gained 2.91 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $121.02, low on the trading day $116.61, closing price $120.98; Google Incorporated (NasdaqGS: GOOG) shed 9.01 points on the trading day, high on the trading day $474.14, low on the trading day $462.01, closing price $467.81.

News on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) today: advanced stocks 472; declined stocks 738; unchanged stocks 89; stocks hitting new highs 7; stocks hitting new lows 18.

According to the National Association of Realtors, U.S. Pending Home Sales Index fell 1.9% in February and U.S. February Pending Home Sales fell 21.4% from February 2007.

Washington Mutual Inc. (WM), aka WaMu, yet another large victim to be affected by the spiraling mortgage industry, in an effort to strengthen cap position, raised $7 Billion anchored by a TPG Cap Investment. TPG is to buy $2 Billion in newly issued Washington Mutual Securities. Wamu will sell 176 Million Shares at $8.75 each to TPG and will sell $7B Equity Securities to TPG and other investor. Intentions are for TPG's Bonderman to be a member of the Board and to name Kellner as Board Observer at TPG's request. WaMu sees 1Q loss $1.1 Billion; cuts Quarterly Dividend to 1c from 15c; sees 1Q Loss/Share $1.40; sees 1Q net Charge-Offs to reach $1.4 Billion; sees 1Q provision for loan losses to reach $3.5 Billion. Dividend cut will save $490 Million a year. WaMu sees 19 Basis Point increase in net interest margin for 1Q and sees Cap Ratios well above targeted levels. WaMu feels they are positioned for return to profit as conditional costs subside. They remain confident of dealing with market conditions, restoring value. WaMu intends to close all freestanding home loan offices as well as to exit wholesale lending. From 186 Locations, WaMu will lay off 3,000 Home-Loan staff and workers were notified of layoffs on Monday.

Commodities Markets
Energy Sector: Light Crude (NYM) shed $0.59 on the day to close at $108.50 a barrel ($US per bbl.); Heating Oil (NYM) gained $0.03 on the day to close at $3.11 a gallon ($US per gal.); Natural Gas (NYM) shed $0.09 on the day to close at $9.70 per million BTU ($US per mmbtu.); Unleaded Gas (NYM) shed $0.03 on the day to close at $2.75 a gallon ($US per gal.).

Metals Markets: Gold (CMX) shed $8.80 to close at $918.00 ($US per Troy oz.); Silver (CMX) shed $0.41 to close at $17.71 ($US per Troy oz.); Platinum (NYM) shed $17.30 to close at $2,029.60 ($US per Troy oz.) and Copper (CMX) shed $0.09 to close at $3.89 ($US per lb.).

Livestock and Meat Markets (cents per lb.):Lean Hogs (CME) shed 0.78 to close at 71.28; Pork Bellies (CME) gained 0.93 to close at 73.98; Live Cattle (CME) gained 0.08 to close at 89.58; Feeder Cattle (CME) gained 0.93 to close at 102.85.

Other Commodities (cents per bu.): Corn (CBT) closed the session at 603.50 and Soybeans (CBT) shed 3.50 to close the session at 1,251.50.

Bonds were mixed across the board today: 2 year bond gained 3/32 at 99 24/32 with a Yield of 1.87, Yield Change 0.05; 5 year bond gained 1/32 to close at 98 30/32 with a Yield of 2.72, Yield Change 0.01; 10 year bond shed 6/32 to close at 99 15/32 with a Yield of 3.56, Yield Change +0.03; the 30 year bond shed 12/32 to close at 100 1/32 on the day with a Yield of 4.37, Yield Change +0.03.

The e-mini Dow $5 ended the commodity session today at 12,603 with a gain of 1 point on the trading session. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 134,593 which is comprised of Electronic, Open Auction and Cash Exchange. Futures Traders should review workshops available at the CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade). Educational in-person seminars schedules available on the CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade) website.

The end of day results for the CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade) which is comprised of the total Exchange Volume for Futures and Options (EVFO) including Electronic, Open Auction, Cash Exchange, Wholesale and Cleared Only ended the day at 3,062,201; Open Interest for Futures gained 77,006 points to close at 9,383,535; the Open Interest for Options gained 287,377 points to close at 8,915,466 and the Cleared Only shed 7 points to close at 28,475 for a total Open Interest on the day of 18,327,479 for a total Change on the day with a gain of 364,376 points.

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